Pa. Lawmakers Spar over Access to School Records

A proposal to deny public access to the records of charter school managers is back again after Pennsylvania lawmakers rejected it last summer, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.

The proposal to exempt managers from the Right-to-Know law was the reason a package of charter school changes was shelved in the first place and it remains controversial today, as Democrats and Republicans square off again to debate the issue.

According to the Inquirer, Democrats are urging the proposal be rejected again because it contains essentially the same language as it did in June when it was first introduced.

State Democratic Sen. Andy Dinniman is leading the opposition, saying the law "purports to promote greater transparency" but at the same time it "would destroy transparency."

"The public has the right to see where its money goes," he said,

But state Republican Rep. Tom Killion, who authored the proposal, said he's not trying to force through a sweeping exception to the Right-to-Know law.

"If a public dollar is involved, the records should be open to the public, but not beyond that," he said.

Still, government transparency activists in the state appear to side with Democrats on the issue. Michael Berry, vice president of the Pennsylvania Freedom of Information Coalition, said the exception could "gut" the provisions where it pertains to charter managers and contractors.